Berlin Windows

Now that I posted it, it looks quite depressive. At least it is an exceptional view from a Berlin window, which I can post without violating someone’s privacy rights.

In my previous apartment I was enjoying a view, which was more typical for Berlin: six huge windows, each one with its own life, and none of them with curtains. Every evening at around 11.30 pm while typically working on my assignments which got delayed because of procrastination busy schedule, I was silently greeting a girl, blond, around 13 years old, who would be enjoying last minutes of the day in her room before climbing to her Hochbett. I wasn’t watching – but my table happened to be in front of the window. I also knew a guy with a beard, who was working during the nights at his table in front of his window, like me – but funny enough, he never appeared during the days. He was an architect, the design of his home office was telling me so. If I ever run into a familiar couple with two kids on the street, I would also recognize a family of four who occupied the rest of the windows.

One of my friends was sharing her controversial feelings about her neighbor. Without sending an invitation, she was forced to share her breakfast ritual with him every morning, while he was enjoying a cup of coffee standing in his underwear on a small balcony. Because of a wonderful house construction, the balcony was closer to her window than any other piece of furniture in her room (and believe me, the apartment was small!).

When I was a child, my mom always taught me that windows should always be shut in the evenings. I can’t recall her exact reasoning at that time, but it definitely had something to do with people watching, and those people were not supposed to have good intentions. Once in my countryside house, me and my friend, teenagers at that time, came to our room upstairs and were about to go to sleep. Before putting my pyjamas on I suddenly remembered to close the curtains. Once I did it, a very disappointed young male voice from the street commented loudly: “Hey, open the curtains! Pleeeeease!”

However, people pick up new habits quickly. Since I moved to a new place I haven’t closed the curtains even once. And I’m not sure, if the reason for that is a wall, blocking my window from all those people with bad intentions.